Cassville students disciplined following water contamination incident

Friday, March 22, 2013 ~ Updated 4:34 PMBy Jared Lankford

An undisclosed number of Cassville girls basketball players have been disciplined following an investigation into an incident that allegedly occurred at a Feb. 4 home basketball game against the Monett Lady Cubs.

According to a letter issued by Monett High School to the parents of the Monett girls' basketball team, four members of the Cassville girls' basketball team admitted their involvement in pouring urine into a drinking cooler provided to the Lady Cubs prior to the game.

Administrators from both Monett and Cassville school districts have been in constant contact discussing the incident since they were made aware of it on Wednesday, March 20.

In response to the incident, Cassville Assistant Superintendent Jill LeCompte issued the following statement:

"Cassville High School administrators were notified of an alleged prank that may have occurred several weeks ago. We investigated the incident and determined that an inappropriate act had occurred. Disciplinary actions have been taken.

"Student discipline is a private matter that we cannot discuss. We are in communication with the other school district and are working cooperatively with them to address questions or concerns.

"Cassville R-4 School District believes that sportsmanship and maintaining high standards for our students is important. We do not condone these actions and regret that our students were involved in this unfortunate incident."

In response, Monett High School adminstrators contacted Dr. Mark Costley a Monett physician, who in turn contacted the infectious disease department at Cox South Hospital to determine if there are any potential health risks resulting from the incident.

"We were concerned about the potential health issues," said Monett Superintendent Brad Hanson. "We wanted to be sure to educate our parents on what to do to test, screen and make sure our kids are protected."

According to the letter issued by Monett High School, the individual whose urine was poured into the water is undergoing tests to determine if any health risks are present.